Department for Transport

High Speed Two: Vacancies

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vacancies there were for jobs with HS2 Ltd in each of the last 12 months.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The table below provides detail of advertised vacancies* by HS2 Ltd in each month since March 2015. Information relating to previous months is not held centrally.MonthVacanciesMar49Apr30May31June62July25Aug28Sep39Oct41Nov44Dec42Jan13*NB: This does not represent the number of people employed/hired or recruited by HS2 Ltd during this time period.

Shipping: Safety

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of the maritime sector to improve safety in that sector.

Mr Robert Goodwill: In accordance with the Department’s priority of maintaining high standards of safety and security in transport, matters relating to improving safety are frequently discussed at our meetings with a range of maritime organisations.

Merchant Shipping: Alcoholic Drinks

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Merchant Navy on implementation of that organisation's dry ship policy.

Mr Robert Goodwill: It is for individual shipping companies to determine their policy on alcohol; the Department has not had any discussions on the matter. The Department is aware of the guidelines to shipping companies on alcohol misuse produced by the industry’s National Maritime Occupational Health and Safety Committee, and commends this advice.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he intends to answer the letter to him dated 23 November 2015 with regard to Ms A Gledson.

Mr Robert Goodwill: My Rt. Hon Friend wrote to the Rt. Hon Member on 15 December 2015.

Shipping

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of progress by the UK maritime sector in establishing a single promotional body.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The recommendation in the Maritime Growth Study concerning the establishment of a single promotional body was directed at industry.We understand that discussions in respect of this recommendation are currently taking place within industry and we await the outcome of those discussions.

Offshore Industry: Helicopters

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many helicopter journeys in the offshore energy sector were aborted due to a mechanical problem in each quarter since Q1 2013l and what mode of helicopter was involved in each such incident.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The number of Mandatory Occurrence Reports received by the Civil Aviation Authority in relation to aborted helicopter journeys due to a mechanical problem in the offshore energy sector, alongside the type of aircraft, is set out in the following table:Aircraft 201320142015TypeQtr1Qtr2Qtr3Qtr4Qtr1Qtr2Qtr3Qtr4Qtr1Qtr2Qtr3Qtr4AS332134222223010AS350000000100000AS355000100000000AS365100000110000AW139000034242200EC135001000000001EC225000326325612S76001000200000S92313593634443Total5491116151712141266

Maritime Growth Ministerial Group

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role the Chair of the new single promotional group  will play in the Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth on (a) the development of shipping policy and (b) shipping industry regulation.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Invited industry representatives attended the first meeting of the Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth to provide an industry perspective on the specific topics discussed at that meeting.A similar procedure will be adopted for future meetings and it is likely that the Chair of a single promotional body would be invited as part of any industry representation.

Shipping: Safety

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on the EU initiative at the International Maritime Organisation for new regulations to require mechanically operated water-tight doors on passenger ships to have an inbuilt safety feature which avoids death or serious injury whilst automatically closing in an emergency to ensure the safety of the vessel.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The UK delegation at the International Maritime Organization fully supports the initiative to introduce protection against crushing of people during the daily operation of watertight doors while retaining the requirements that they close firmly in case of an emergency.

Taxis: Wheelchairs

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to bring into force section 165 of the Equality Act 2010.

Andrew Jones: The Government is considering how best to address problems wheelchair users face when using taxis and private hire vehicles, including the possible commencement of Sections 165 and 167 of the Equality Act 2010.Both taxis and private hire vehicles are a particularly valuable form of transport for disabled people. We would strongly encourage all taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to assist wheelchair users, wherever possible, and would also strongly discourage the practice of making additional charges to assist a disabled passenger.Notwithstanding the status of section 165 of the Equality Act, disabled taxi and private hire vehicle passengers are protected from discrimination under the general provisions of the Act which prohibit any form of discrimination in the provision of good and services.

Aviation: Lasers

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of pilots operating in the UK who have sought medical assistance after a laser pen attack which occurred in the course of their work.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department does not hold any information on the number of pilots who have sought medical assistance following a laser pen attack. The Civil Aviation Authority has published a Safety Notice which provides guidance on laser attacks, including the action that aircraft crew and controllers should take during and immediately after an attack. It also includes a self-assessment tool to help those exposed to lasers make an immediate assessment of their vision and determine whether or not they need to consult an eye specialist.

Air Traffic Control: Lasers

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many incidents of laser pen attacks on air traffic control towers have been recorded in the last five years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: In the last five years from the period 1 July 2009 to 31 July 2015, the Civil Aviation Authority recorded 17 reports of laser pen attacks affecting air traffic towers in the UK.

Aviation: Lasers

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of UK pilots who have been stood down after a laser pen attack occurring in the course of their work.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Civil Aviation Authority does not have any evidence to confirm that any pilot has been removed from flying duties or suffered long term damage as a result of exposure from a laser attack whilst undertaking their duties.

Shipping: Oil

Dr Paul Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the effect of a written objection being made by a consultation body specified in Regulation 2 of the Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) Regulations 2010 (as amended) for the determination of an application for an oil transfer licence.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is the Competent Authority that assesses applications for an Oil Transfer License (OTL). All written representations made during a public consultation are considered with the application and used to inform the analysis and the decisionThe MCA will approve or deny the application, direct the applicant to do additional work to address concerns and/or seek additional stakeholder consultation and engagement where appropriate.In accordance with the ‘Merchant Shipping (Ship to Ship Transfers) Regulation 2010 (as amended), the MCA will inform the applicant in writing of the decision, with any associated caveats to the License, if granted. Officials will also write to all individuals or consultation bodies who responded to the public consultation informing them of the decision and the justification for it.Representations and decision correspondence are retained by the MCA and kept on file for a minimum of 20 years. Records of any other stakeholder engagement undertaken during an OTL consultation or subsequent to it are retained by the MCA for a minimum of five years.

Stratford Station

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the number of people who live within 30 minutes' travel time of Stratford International Station by public transport.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport has made no assessment of the number of people who live within 30 minutes’ travel time of Stratford International Station by public transport.

Shipping: Training

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the reviews into the (a) Support for Maritime Training scheme and (b) UK maritime sector's projected requirement for seafarers as recommended in the Maritime Growth study, Keeping the UK competitive in a global market, published September 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The invitation to tender for the Seafarer Projections Review was sent out by the Crown Commercial Service on Tuesday 19 January 2016.As the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) Review will need to take account of the information gathered in the Seafarer Projections Review, it will follow in about four to six weeks’ time.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Communities and Local Government: Data Protection

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions in each of the last two calendar years his Department has been notified by outside consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials.

Brandon Lewis: There is no record of any occasion during 2014 or 2015 where the Department has been notified centrally by outside consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials.

Housing: Offenders

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what housing support is provided to ex-offenders on leaving prison; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce a statutory requirement to provide settled accommodation for ex-offenders.

Brandon Lewis: Under the Ministry of Justice’s Transformation Rehabilitation reforms, Community Rehabilitation Companies are contractually required to deliver a range of ‘Through the Gate’ resettlement services to offenders. This involves working with offenders before release to assess their housing needs, including helping them to secureaccommodation and maintain tenancies post release.

Social Rented Housing: Vulnerable Adults

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that vulnerable people are prioritised in the provision of settled accommodation.

Mr Marcus Jones: Under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996, households that include someone who is vulnerable, for example because of old age, physical or mental disability or any other special reason, have a priority need for accommodation. Housing authorities must ensure that suitable accommodation is available for anyone if they are in priority need, are eligible for assistance and unintentionally homeless.

Trees

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on ensuring that consent is granted before a person undertakes work on a neighbour's tree.

James Wharton: Guidance on the tree preservation legislation is published on the planning guidance website at http://planningguidance.communities.gov.uk/blog/guidance/tree-preservation-orders/ and is available to local authorities and other interested parties. Local authorities are responsible for determining applications for works to trees protected by Tree Preservation Orders.

Homelessness

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will initiate a cross-government strategy to prevent homelessness.

Mr Marcus Jones: People find themselves facing homelessness for many reasons - and it is more than just a housing issue. Relationship breakdown, health and employment can all play a part. What is more, the costs of homelessness are felt across Government, through the criminal justice system, healthcare and the welfare bill.I have re-established the Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness, to ensure we have a joined up response and a shared sense of mission across Government.Through this Group, my colleagues and I will ensure that we have a coordinated plan to tackle and prevent homelessness across departmental boundaries.

Council Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the thresholds for council homes to be taken into account when calculating the levy on councils contained in part 4 of the Housing and Planning Bill.

Brandon Lewis: The Housing and Planning Bill requires the Secretary of State to define 'high value' in regulations.We are currently in the process of updating data that will be used to help inform the high value threshold. Further details will be available shortly.

Communities and Local Government: Cybercrime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of employees in his Department has (a) taken the CESG Certified Cyber-Security Training Course and (b) received other relevant cyber-security training.

Brandon Lewis: Technical cyber-security services are provided to the Department by the Department for Education under a shared services agreement. All Information Asset Owners in the Department have undertaken the Information Asset Owner module of the cross government Responsible for Information Training, which includes cyber-security training.

Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of homeless families with children who are living in bed and breakfast accommodation have been in that accommodation for more than six weeks.

Mr Marcus Jones: As at 30 September 2015 there were 3,000 families with children in bed and breakfast style accommodation in England, of which 960 had been in bed and breakfast style accommodation for longer than six weeks.Whilst this is less than the previous peak, we are clear the long term use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families with children is both unacceptable and unlawful. The law and statutory guidance make clear it should only ever be used in an emergency, and then for no longer than six weeks.Tackling and preventing homelessness remains a priority and that is why we have protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, through the provisional local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20 , increased central government funding for homelessness programmes to £139 million over the Spending Review period; and have made a commitment to work with local authorities, homelessness organisations and across Departments to consider options, including legislation, to prevent more people from becoming homeless.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Christianity

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of the report from Open Doors, Freedom of Religion and the Persecution of Christians; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The Government is firmly committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief around the world, and to being a strong voice internationally in defence of this fundamental right. We value our close working relationship with organisations such as Open Doors and their insights from practical work around the world. We welcomed their recent report, which Baroness Anelay of St Johns, FCO Minister for Human Rights, was pleased to discuss with Open Doors on 13 January.Our new strategic approach to human rights refocuses our work around three themes: democratic values and the rule of law; strengthening the rules-based international system; and human rights for a stable world. Our work on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is integral to all three of these themes.We have an active programme of religious literacy training amongst staff from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and across Whitehall, including through our new Diplomatic Academy.Multilaterally, we are working through the UN General Assembly to establish an internationally agreed set of principles for promoting tolerance through education. We also carry out project work in a range of countries, working with non-governmental organisations on issues such as promoting better understanding between faiths, bridging sectarian divides, promoting dialogue between faith groups and government and offering technical advice on amending discriminatory laws. Earlier in January, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced an uplift to £10.6 million for the 2016/17 programme, named the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. We are encouraging strong bids for projects focused on promoting freedom of religion or belief, and promoting FoRB as one way of tackling the root causes of extremism.

Islamic State: Military Intervention

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much of the (a) conflict pool and (b) conflict security stability fund has been allocated to other states fighting Daesh since 2014.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: For national security reasons, we do not specify how much Conflict Pool and Conflict Stability and Security Fund has been allocated to other states fighting Daesh. I can confirm that in Iraq, we are making a £2 million contribution to the UN Funding Facility for Immediate Stabilisation.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what guidance his Department has provided to Europe Direct on the information it provides to people in the UK in the period before the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not provided any guidance to Europe Direct on the information it provides.

Larry Covington

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether Law Enforcement Adviser, Larry Covington, declared any interests relevant to his employment by his Department.

James Duddridge: We do not comment on individual staff matters. There are strict rules about staff declaring outside interests, such as accepting employment or engaging business activities to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest.

Libya: Islamic State

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Libyan government on tackling the spread of Daesh

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are extremely concerned about the growing threat from extremist groups in Libya, including Daesh. The recent attacks in the Oil Crescent and Zliten in western Libya show the threat that these groups pose to the stability of Libya and the region, and potentially to the UK and our interests. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) spoke to Prime Minister Designate, Fayez al-Serraj, on 10 January to stress the importance of the Government of National Accord forming quickly, and to emphasise the UK Government’s commitment to supporting the new government to tackle the threats from Daesh and people smuggling.

Nepal: Elections

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government has given to the government of Nepal on the conduct of elections.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK provided £14 million to support the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal. This consisted of support to provide an environment conducive to free, fair and inclusive elections and technical support.

Egypt: Libya

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Egyptian government on Libya.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers regularly discuss Libya with their Egyptian counterparts, as part of the united international effort to assist the formation of a government in Libya that can deliver stability, security, and prosperity for the Libyan people. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) continues ongoing discussions of Libya with his Egyptian counterpart, Minister for Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukhry. They previously discussed the subject in meetings in September and November.

Turkey: Kurds

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the treatment of democratically-elected officials in predominantly Kurdish areas of Turkey.

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on civilian casualties incurred as a result of Turkish government offensives in predominantly Kurdish areas of Turkey.

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representation he has made to his Turkish counterpart on the use of curfews in predominantly Kurdish areas of Turkey.

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the number and extent of civilian casualties incurred in the conflict in predominately Kurdish areas of Turkey.

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues about the Turkish government's military action against Kurdish militants in predominately Kurdish areas of Turkey.

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in predominately Kurdish areas of Turkey.

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on the humanitarian situation in predominately Kurdish areas of Turkey.

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the prospects for peace in predominately Kurdish areas of Turkey of the imprisonment and enforced suspension of moderate politicians in that region.

Mr David Lidington: The ongoing violence in the predominantly Kurdish areas of south east Turkey is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. The Turkish Government has responded by striking PKK targets in Turkey and Northern Iraq. They have also launched large-scale security operations involving curfews in some towns and cities in order to clear them of suspected terrorists.We are aware of reports of civilian casualties in the region, and a worsening humanitarian situation in certain areas in south east Turkey. The Turkish Government have said that 48 civilians lost their lives in clashes between 23 July and 23 December 2015. They also said that 93,000 people have fled their homes. We also understand that there have been investigations launched against elected officials and politicians. Any such investigations should be undertaken transparently and fully respect the rule of law.We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians who have been caught up in the violence. As in any conflict, civilian casualties should be avoided and human rights need to be fully protected. We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can.We continue to monitor the situation closely. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights, avoid civilian casualties and return to the peace process. I raised these issues with my Turkish counterpart the last time we met in August 2015.

Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the announcement of 19 January 2016 of the launch of the £10 million Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy, how much of the additional funding in that area will come from the budget of (a) his Department and (b) the Department for International Development.

Mr David Lidington: All funding for the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy will come from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s budget.

Capital Punishment

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is his policy to take steps towards repeal of the death penalty in states which hold the death penalty.

Mr David Lidington: The Government’s approach to all states which retain the death penalty is to focus first on suspension of its use as the key step towards permanent abolition. We take a pragmatic approach to achieving that goal. We welcome reforms which improve legal procedures, reduce the number of capital crimes or mitigate some of the cruelties inherent to the death penalty. We fund projects which educate the judiciary, promote reform, mount legal challenges to death penalty systems and stimulate public debate. We engage diplomatically with retentionist states to ensure they are aware of the compelling arguments against the death penalty and of the UK Government’s opposition to any execution. Our assessment is that these approaches are stimulating a long-term movement by states towards abolition.

Syria: Christianity

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to protect Christians in Syria from persecution by Daesh.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We recognise the situation is desperate for many communities within Syria and Iraq. We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians, including Christians and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Syria and Iraq.The International Syria Support Group (ISSG) has agreed that protecting the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination is fundamental. This means that Syrian minorities will be included as the political process progresses. Through our membership of the ISSG, we will ensure that this is adhered to.The Global Coalition has provided air support to the Syrian Democratic Forces (which include Syrian Christian members) in their fight against Daesh.Ultimately, the best way of safeguarding minority rights is by defeating Daesh and establishing peace and stability in the region. The UK has been at the forefront of these efforts and, together with our allies, has a comprehensive strategy to deal with Daesh.

Arms Trade

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on how many occasions he or his predecessor has given evidence to committees of the House on arms sales to (a) Saudi Arabia and (b) other countries in each of the last six years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided evidence on UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia and other countries to committees of the House on a number of occasions in the last six years. From the start of the 2010-12 session until recently this has involved the submission of written and oral evidence to the Committees on Arms Export Controls (the CAEC) as part of their annual inquiries. The Rt Hon the Lord Hague of Richmond (the former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) and the Secretary of State gave oral evidence to the CAEC on global UK arms exports on 7 February and 19 December 2012 and 8 January 2014, and 1 December 2014, respectively. The former Secretary of State was questioned about arms exports to Saudi Arabia on 7 February and 19 December 2012. Details about such evidence, including the Government's response of 31 July 2015 to the most recent CAEC inquiry, can be found in the committees published reports.

India: Commonwealth Games

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he had during the visit of President Narendra Modi to the UK in November 2015 on outstanding payments to British companies for services provided during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Mr Hugo Swire: The British High Commission in New Delhi has repeatedly raised with the Government of India the dispute over payment of the British company Satellite Information Services (SIS), urging them to settle the case, and has provided consistent support to SIS. I also raised this case with the Indian High Commissioner in London in October 2015. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) discussed opportunities and challenges for British business in India with Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the UK in November 2015. We will continue to press for a satisfactory settlement.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Cybercrime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many employees in his Department have (a) taken the CESG Certified Cyber-Security Training Course and (b) received other relevant cyber-security training.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Capital Punishment

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons his Department's strategy on the abolition of the death penalty has not yet been renewed.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 January to Question 22083 to the Hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green. https://wqa.parliament.uk/Questions/Details/28353

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Data Protection

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on how many occasions her Department has been notified by external consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials in each of the last two years.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: There have been no document or security related breaches notified to the Northern Ireland Office by external consultants or other third parties in the last two years.

Attorney General

Fraud: Prosecutions

Richard Fuller: To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions have been brought under the Fraud Act 2006 in each year since 2009.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of prosecutions brought under the Fraud Act 2006. However, records are held showing the overall number of offences charged in which a prosecution commenced in the magistrates’ courts (the distinction being that some prosecutions involved multiple offences). These figures are detailed in the following table:YearNumber of offences charged under the Fraud Act 2006 in which a prosecution commenced in the magistrates’ court*2009-1027,7592010-1129,5922011-1228,1642012-1326,5812013-1425,8322014-1526,113* Data Source: CPS management information systemThe Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigates and, where appropriate, prosecutes the topmost tier of serious or complex fraud cases. The SFO charges offences under the most appropriate legislation in each investigation, and not only the Fraud Act.The number of individuals charged by the SFO for offences under the Fraud Act (2006) is shown in the table below.YearNumber of individuals charged under the Fraud Act 2006*20095201072011220122201342014120156* This type of casework information for the years prior to 2012 was not collated centrally in the same way and so the information for these years reflects the records from the time.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

English Language: Education

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people took up ESOL Plus Mandation courses in each year such courses were available.

Nick Boles: An estimated 5,060 people in 13/14 and 20,530 in 14/15 were mandated to ESOL under the English Language Requirement policy.

English Language: Education

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many funded learners there were enrolled on English for speakers of other languages further education courses in institutions in (a) Hampstead and Kilburn constituency and (b) London in each of the last five years.

Nick Boles: Information on ESOL participation by region and constituency from 2005/06 to 2013/14 is published as a supplementary table (first link) to a Statistical First Release (second link).https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-skills-for-lifehttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held

Apprentices: EU Countries

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that UK citizens can take up apprenticeships in other EU states.

Nick Boles: There are many differences between apprenticeships systems across EU Member States. In some countries, like England, apprenticeships are jobs, whilst in others they are training courses without employment status.Under the principle of free movement, UK citizens, like all nationals of an EU Member State, have a right to work in another, subject to all relevant employment laws.Where apprenticeships are training programmes, it is up to each member state to set the parameters for their specific programme, including offering opportunities for resident citizens of other countries.

Small Businesses: Billing

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an estimate of the collective cost to small and medium-sized enterprises to recover overdue payments in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: We know that the collective cost of late payment has been, and remains, a significant burden for small and medium sized businesses. Small businesses spend too much valuable time and resource chasing late payments, which impacts on their ability to invest in growth.The Department does not hold the information required to make an estimate of the collective cost to small and medium-sized businesses to recover overdue payments in each of the last five years. As late payment affects so many different types of business in different ways, no single survey gives a full picture of the impact of late payment on small and medium-sized businesses. The three sources that we look to as an indicator of late payment are the SME finance monitor, the regular BACs survey and Experian’s late payment index.

Iron and Steel: China

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the potential effect of China obtaining market economy status on steel dumping across the EU.

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government has requested be taken at EU level to respond to the effects of over-production of Chinese steel.

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on the granting of market economy status to China.

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect that China's potential Market Economy Status will have on the UK steel industry; and when he last met the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to discuss that matter.

Anna Soubry: My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues, EU Commissioners and EU counterparts about a range of issues, including Market Economy Status (MES) for China. He most recently discussed trade aspects of the steel industry with Trade Commissioner Malmstrom on 20 January.We are awaiting a European Commission proposal on granting MES. We understand that the Commission will also be undertaking a detailed assessment of the economic impacts of granting MES as part of their consideration of this issue. We will examine any proposal and assessment carefully. The Prime Minister has previously stated that he will make the case for China to be granted MES but China will need to show that it is committed to becoming more open as it becomes more prosperous. In considering the Commission’s proposal it will be important to consider the wider trade and international political context including compliance with international commitments. If China is granted MES, the Commission will still be able to pursue anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases and impose measures where evidence of dumping or subsidy is found.The government is strongly in favour of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices. The Government voted in favour of anti-dumping measures on steel products in July and November and lobbied successfully for an investigation into re-bar. The Government is also pushing for faster, more effective action to deal with dumping of steel: this was one of the conclusions of the Extraordinary Competitiveness Council on Steel in November. The Secretary of State also raised the issue with the Trade Commissioner.The Government is playing an active role in the European Commission’s steel stakeholder’s conference summit on 15 February and is supporting a robust discussion of the issue of overcapacity through the EU’s ongoing dialogue with the Chinese.

Metals: Industry

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent assessment he has made of the level of security of supply of rare earth metals required by industry.

Anna Soubry: There has been no recent assessment for the UK. However, the EU critical raw material list is reviewed every 3 years and the most recent review of that list, which currently includes rare earth elements, took place in May 2014. The UK uses this list to help in its assessment of which materials are of particular significance to UK manufacturing.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the potential costs to (a) consumers and (b) the public purse of the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry: The Government is moving UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) into private ownership so it can continue operating in the same way it does now only funded with private capital rather than relying on taxpayers’ support. The detailed background and supporting case for this move was set out in the policy statement we published on 18 November.Decisions on the proposed sale are being taken in accordance with best practice to ensure all available options are properly examined in a detailed business case and that a robust valuation process is followed. We expect taxpayers to gain a receipt to the public purse from a majority sale of GIB, and to benefit from reduced public funding requirements in future.

Jobcentre Plus: Apprentices

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions officials in his Department have had with officials of the Department for Work and Pensions on JobCentre Plus involvement in the Find An Apprentice Service.

Nick Boles: The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) is working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). A live link from the ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ service provides real time apprenticeship vacancies each day to the Jobcentre Plus Universal Jobmatch vacancy website. This ensures that clients who are in receipt of benefits have easy access to information about apprenticeship vacancies.In addition, the SFA is working with DWP to train work coaches in job centres so that they have up to date information on apprenticeships to share with clients. The SFA is also ensuring that DWP employer teams have the information needed on apprenticeships to promote these as part of their conversations with businesses.

Apprentices: Public Sector

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to launch his Department's consultation for target numbers of apprenticeships in the public sector.

Nick Boles: The consultation was published on 25 January 2016.

Apprentices: Standards

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what additional checks on standards and quality his Department and the National Apprenticeship Service plan to introduce in response to the targets listed in his Department's publication, English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision, published on 7 December 2015.

Nick Boles: The Institute for Apprenticeships, a new independent body led by employers, is being established to oversee the quality of apprenticeships in England.The Institute for Apprenticeships will put in place transparent mechanisms for the approval of apprenticeship standards and assessment plans, and maintain clear quality criteria so that only standards that are valued by employers will be approved and funded.It will be fully operational by April 2017.

Iron and Steel: Antidumping

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress the Government has made in negotiating with its EU partners about developing anti-dumping measures covering steel imports.

Anna Soubry: The EU’s anti-dumping procedures are driven by requests from EU producers to the European Commission. The Commission is responsible for considering requests for and, if appropriate, opening anti-dumping investigations. My International Comparisons working group agreed to work closely with the steel industry on supporting cases where they provide evidence of dumping, as we did with Celsa Steel and rebar last year.The Government is strongly in favour of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices. The Government voted in favour of anti-dumping measures on steel products in July and November and it was the UK that lobbied successfully for an investigation into rebar. The Government secured agreement on the need for fast and effective action at an EU level and a robust dialogue with China and other producer countries at the Extraordinary Competitiveness Council in November. We have pressed the Commission to consider ways of speeding up investigations and recently wrote to the Commission with specific proposals. We will be attending a summit meeting on 15 February to push for further progress. Recent announcements by the EU on registration measures for cold rolled strip and rebar show they have listened and are taking swifter action.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will place in the Library any document which provide an evidential basis for the Government's decision to privatise the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry: The background to the Government’s decision to introduce private capital into the Green Investment Bank (GIB) can be found in the policy document entitled “Future of the Green Investment Bank plc” that was published on 18 November on GOV.UK. In addition to this, the Government has also introduced provisions to the Enterprise Bill which require a report to be laid before Parliament once a decision to undertake a sale has been made. The report must set out the type of sale, the expected timescale, and the Government’s objectives for the sale.

UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation: Saudi Arabia

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish details of UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation meetings with Saudi Arabian officials.

Anna Soubry: Since May 2015 UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) officials have met with Saudi Arabian officials from the Ministry of National Guard, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence, King Abulaziz City for Science and Technology, Ministry of Municipalities and Rural Affairs, ArRiyadh Development Authority and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Data Protection

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, on how many occasions her Department has been notified by external consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials in each of the last two years.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID is not aware of any notifications from external consultants, or other third parties, of breaches to its Information Security Management Controls in the past two years.

Developing Countries: Poliomyelitis

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2016 to Question 20675, how much of the £300 million provided to eradicate polio was spent in each of the last three years; and how much will be spent in each of the next four years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK is a top three donor to polio eradication, with a £300 million commitment over six years from 2013/14 to 2018/19. Of this, £100 million was disbursed in the financial year of 2013/2014, £50 million in 2014/15, and £65 million in 2015/16. The UK will provide £39 million in 2016/17, £29 million in 2017/18 and £17 million in 2018/19.UK support has been critical in bringing us one step closer to the finish line of a world free from polio, something people across the country can be immensely proud of.

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to InsuResilience, the G7 Initiative on Climate Risk Insurance, if she will make it her policy to (a) allocate additional funding of £100 million to that programme, (b) scale up by at least £50 million weather-indexed microinsurance that provides direct coverage for smallholder farmers pastoralists and other vulnerable groups and (c) increase her Department's grant funding for the African Risk Capacity to £20 million in order to improve the capacity of that programme to meet its targets.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK supports the G7 Climate Risk Insurance Initiative and is committed to contributing to meeting the collective target set out in the Elmau declaration of helping up to an additional 400 million people in the most vulnerable developing countries to gain access to climate risk insurance by 2020. UK support under the Initiative includes a commitment of up to £100m to African Risk Capacity (ARC) and £15m for the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative. Of this, the UK has contributed £32m so far to ARC.On scaling up support to weather indexed microinsurance, the UK currently provides some support to livestock insurance in Kenya to improve the product offered to pastoralists and increase the role of the private sector. The UK also provides index-based insurance through the CGIAR climate change, agriculture and food security research programme (CGIAR-CCAFS). In September 2015, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would provide at least £5.8 billion of climate finance over the next five years. This is likely to include further support for climate risk insurance.

Department for Education

Schools: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the financial savings to schools in (a) Pendle, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West as a result of its memorandum of understanding with Microsoft announced on 13 January 2016.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Due to this agreement with Microsoft, which runs until June 2018, schools stand to save an estimated £30 million. The agreement also gives them greater flexibility in their use of Microsoft software.

Teachers: Training

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has been deducted from funding allocated by the National College of Teaching and Leadership to higher education institutions who have trained more teachers than places allocated in each academic year since 2010-11.

Nick Gibb: The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) have not reduced the funding for any higher education institutions (HEIs) who have trained more teachers than places allocated since the academic year 2010-11. The NCTL continues to have the right to impose penalties, but have not exercised this previously. The decision to exercise this right in the academic year 2016/17 will be made after institutions submit their trainee registration information.

Schools: Living Wage

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on school budgets of the National Living Wage.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We want to reward people in work, so we are introducing a national living wage in April 2016 which raises the current minimum rate by 50p per hour. Over a million workers will benefit directly from the increase, many by up to £900 a year.Some of those workers are employed in our schools. We will be expecting schools, like all employers, to manage the change within their budgets. To help them do that, we have protected the core schools budget, including the pupil premium, and we have ensured that the extra £390 million allocated in 2015-16 remains in the baseline for future years. Throughout this Parliament we will increase the amount of money for our schools as pupil numbers rise, protecting the total budget in real terms.We have committed to target this funding more fairly by introducing a national funding formula. With a fair formula we will be able to fund schools based on their individual needs, so that they can manage cost pressures effectively and make informed decisions about what is best for them and their pupils in the long term. This fairer system will mean schools can keep driving up educational standards while managing their budgets.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote character education in schools; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: All schools should develop character traits like self-confidence, motivation and resilience in their students. These traits support academic attainment, are valued by employers, and encourage young people to make a positive contribution to British society.At the Character Symposium in January 2016, the Secretary of State for Education outlined her vision for character education. She announced that the Department intends to promote character education through the building and strengthening of our evidence base. We will facilitate this via an online digital platform which will share evidence, innovation, and examples of best practice in character education. We will also promote character education to schools and organisations through a new round of character awards.To support schools in this, we are already investing £5 million in character education. This figure includes £3.5m of grants for 14 projects and £1m to the Education Endowment Foundation to build research the most effective ways that character can be developed.Of course, many schools and organisations are already supporting children to develop their character, through programmes such as National Citizen Service. We will be investing over a billion pounds over the next four years to make NCS a rite of passage and toensure that 60% of 16 year olds can take part by 2021.In addition, school sport can help children and young people develop positive character traits such as fair play, leadership and resilience. It can teach them how to bounce back from defeat, how to respect others and how to work together in teams to achieve a goal. PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the new national curriculum which came into force in September 2014.

Vocational Guidance: Standards

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Government has to improve employment and careers advice.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Government has introduced a number of measures to improve employment and careers advice. We have established The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) to strengthen links between employers, schools and colleges, and careers and enterprise organisations to inspire young people and help them take control of their own futures. The CEC is rolling out the Enterprise Adviser Network, which connects employees from firms of all sizes to schools through a network of volunteer enterprise advisers. The Company has also launched its £5m Careers & Enterprise Fund to scale up good ideas and fill gaps in provision.The Prime Minister recently announced a new campaign to encourage a new generation of high quality mentors. The campaign, which will be led by the CEC, will aim to increase the number of business and professional mentors working with teenagers who are under-achieving or at risk of dropping out of education.The Government is also introducing a new initiative which will see Jobcentre Plus staff offer support, where schools request it, to supplement careers guidance and to help schools deliver their statutory duty to provide high quality, independent and impartial careers advice. Jobcentre Plus staff will focus support on those students at risk of not participating in education, employment or training. The scheme will be aligned with the CEC’s Enterprise Adviser network and will be rolled out later this academic year.Building on these measures, we want to go further to improve careers education and guidance for all young people. We will launch a careers strategy in the spring of 2016, which will set out the government’s vision for careers education and how we will get there by 2020.

Grandparents: Parental Responsibility

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are being cared for primarily by their grandparents.

Edward Timpson: The Department does not collect information on the number of grandparents who provide care to their grandchildren. The Department collects and publishes information about looked-after children who are placed in foster care with a relative or friend. At 31 March 2015, 7910 looked-after children were cared for in these arrangements.

Ministry of Justice

Witnesses: Attendance

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases were stopped as a result of witness withdrawal or non-attendance in (a) Crown court trials and (b) hearings in magistrates' courts relating to (i) domestic violence (ii) rape and (iii) other cases in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: Criminal cases discontinued by the prosecution are recorded by Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS). However, the reasons why a case was discontinued are only recorded centrally for cases which are listed for trial but do not go ahead on the day. The reasons for these ‘cracked’ trials, including ‘prosecution end case’, are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics in the supplementary Criminal Courts transparency tables. These data are not broken down by offence.The reasons recorded for cases discontinued at any other point in proceedings are not held centrally by HMCTS. This information could only be provided at disproportionate costs.

Aviation: Lasers

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions have been made under Article 222 of the Air Navigation Order 2009 since that order came into force.

Andrew Selous: The number of offenders found guilty at all courts for offences under article 22 of the Air Navigation Order 2009, in England and Wales, from 2009 t0 2014 (latest available) can be viewed in the attached table.



Offenders found guilty from 2009-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 24.5 KB)

Young Offenders: Reoffenders

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rates are of children who have resided in (a) secure children's homes, (b) secure training centres and (c) young offender institutions.

Andrew Selous: Although youth crime is down, reoffending rates are far too high and the care and supervision of young offenders in custody is not good enough.That is why the Justice Secretary has asked Charlie Taylor to conduct a review of youth justice. He will report back later this year with recommendations on how to improve the treatment of young people in our care. The table below shows proven reoffending rates for young people detained in secure accommodation in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013Secure AccommodationProportion of reoffending offenders (%)20092010201120122013Secure Children’s Home*79.073.568.174.271.4Secure Training Centre*69.270.970.465.468.5Young Offender Institution*70.270.871.868.565.8Note:These figures have been derived from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording are subject to possible errors with data entry and processingA certain proportion of offenders who could not be matched to the Police National Computer (PNC) are excluded from the offender cohort. Therefore, these numbers do not represent all proven offenders.In some cases an offender may have been released from more than one type of secure accommodation in which they had been residing within the cohort period.

Young Offender Institutions: Injuries

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) young offenders and (b) staff the Youth Justice Board recorded as injured in each young offender institute in each of the last eight years; how many such injuries to (i) young offenders and (ii) staff were recorded as serious injuries; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The number of (a) young offenders and (b) staff the Youth Justice Board recorded as injured in each young offender institute in each of the last eight years is set out in the attached table.The table includes information on injuries, including severe injuries, relating to Restrictive Physical Intervention (RPI), self-harm and assaults. The number of staff and visitors severely injured as a result of an assault is not included as obtaining these figures would incur disproportionate costs.



Number of Injuries from 2008-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 108.5 KB)

Medway Secure Training Centre

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much G4S was paid for (a) bedding, (b) children's birthdays, (c) Christmas allowances, (d) children's sports and PE costs, (e) educational materials, (f) electricity, (g) staff uniforms, (h) staff training materials and (i) stationery at Medway Secure Training Centre for Young People in each year since 2009.

Andrew Selous: The Youth Justice Board does not hold this information.

Prisoners: Islam

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of prisoners who have converted to Islam in prisons in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: Information on the number of prisoners that have converted to Islam while in prison is not held centrally. The data held relates to a prisoner’s current declared religion, not any previously declared religion.In order to provide data relating to offender conversions to Islam in prison, it would be necessary to manually examine individual prison records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Fatal Accidents Act 1976

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations he has received from charities and families on the effectiveness of the operation of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.

Caroline Dinenage: One piece of Ministerial correspondence has been received in the last six months concerning the family of a deceased person affected by the 1976 Act.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward proposals to require the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to compensate families of victims of criminal offences.

Mike Penning: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme compensates victims of violent crime who have sustained physical or mental injuries.In cases where the victim of a violent crime has died, close family members of the deceased may be eligible to receive awards such as bereavement and dependency payments for the loss of a loved one. The rules governing such payments are set out in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

Youth Courts: Magistrates

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22715, what monitoring is done to ensure that youth court magistrates deal fairly with those who appear before them.

Mr Shailesh Vara: All magistrates are selected against published criteria and take an oath to “do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill will.” Under the Magistrates’ National Training Initiative, magistrates’ appraisals are conducted on a triennial basis. Youth Magistrates are appraised against a specific competence framework which includes for example, a requirement to demonstrate knowledge of diversity and fair treatment issues.

Prison Service: Training

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question HL324 from Baroness Masham of Ilton, when the additional four weeks of training for prison officers will be introduced; and whether training on suicide and self-injury prevention will be included in that training.

Andrew Selous: The new Prison Officer entry level training began on 25th January 2016. The training includes an additional 4 weeks of content relevant to the role. Reducing the risk of suicide and self-harm are included in the training.

Probation

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases have been transferred from community rehabilitation companies to the National Probation Service for risk escalation.

Andrew Selous: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many community rehabilitation companies have completed his Department's risk audit; and what the results of those audits are.

Andrew Selous: We monitor the performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) closely, to make sure they fulfil their contractual commitments to maintain service delivery, reduce reoffending, protect the public and deliver value for money to the taxpayer. All CRCs have been audited by the Ministry of Justice, as part of a rolling programme of operational assurance audits. These internal audits provide assurance to contract management teams on a range of measures.

Prisoners: Miscarriage

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women have had miscarriages in each prison in England and Wales in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Secure Training Centres

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions monitors have investigated and reported to him on allegations made against custody officers performing custodial duties at (a) Hassockfield, (b) Medway, (c) Oakhill and (d) Rainsbrook secure training centre since each centre opened.

Andrew Selous: If an allegation is made against a staff member in a Secure Training Centre (STC), a child protection referral will be made to the independent Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for investigation.Where disciplinary action is recommended, the YJB which is statutorily responsible for the youth estate will oversee the disciplinary process which will be conducted by the STC provider.The YJB will only refer an investigation to the Secretary of State if an STC provider conducts an insufficiently comprehensive or robust disciplinary process, and does not correct this when required to by the YJB. The YJB would then refer the case to the Secretary of State and recommend that the member of staff has their custody certification revoked.The YJB have the ability to suspend custody certificates, but cannot revoke them. The power to revoke a custody certificate lies with the Secretary of State. There have been no referrals to the Secretary of State to revoke a custody certificate as of yet, as the only circumstances where the YJB would be required to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, would be where the YJB have suspended a certificate but the contractor has refused to dismiss the employee.The member of staff would then no longer be certified to work in any secure setting for young peopleNo monitor has reported to the Secretary of State for revocation of custody officer certification since each centre opened.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Digital Technology: Skilled Workers

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the current provision of skills required by the digital economy; and what steps he is taking to ensure that training delivered under the apprenticeship levy is geared towards high-value high-skilled jobs.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the apprenticeship levy on existing professional training and digital skills initiatives provided by the digital technology industry.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The digital sector contributes more than 7 per cent to the UK economy - it is one of our most innovative sectors, and needs a strong skills base to continue to grow and succeed. That is why this Government has implemented the new apprenticeship levy, and is consulting digital and technology employers to have a better understanding of their specific skills needs and assess the likely impacts of the levy on existing professional training programmes and initiatives.

Music: Disability

John Mc Nally: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of spaces available for disabled people in music venues; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: We believe that everyone should have equal access to arts and culture - having a disability should not be a barrier to enjoying Britain's awe-inspiring cultural treasures. That is why we are working with venues and organisations representing disabled people to identify barriers to access, while at the same time seeing how we can share examples of best practice and what more cultural venues need to do to be accessible to people with disabilities. We support the work of Attitude is Everything, which works with audiences, artists and the music industry to improve deaf and disabled people’s access to live events. I also recently held a roundtable meeting with Justin Tomlinson, Minister for Disabled People, to look at access to cultural venues and events for disabled people.

Ofcom

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of relocation of Ofcom departments from London to other areas of the country on Ofcom's ability to maintain its service standards.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The location of Ofcom departments and its offices is a matter for Ofcom, who are independent from Government.

Mobile Phones

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will discuss with mobile telephone companies steps to reduce and standardise the time between a provider unlocking a phone and the owner of that phone being able to use it with another provider.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government wants to reduce the cost and hassle of switching mobile providers for consumers. We expect industry to start automatically unlocking customers’ handsets at the end of their contracts, and will consult this year on ending the practice of handset locking for customers outside their initial contract period.

Department for Work and Pensions

Pension Credit: Age

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of reinstating the qualifying age for pension credit to its 1995 timetable.

Justin Tomlinson: Holding answer received on 25 January 2016



Pension Credit was designed to provide income related support for people without sufficient provision for their retirement and as such the qualifying age for both men and women has been linked to women’s State Pension age since its introduction.Our initial estimates of the cost of retaining the 1995 timetable for the qualifying age for Pension Credit were published in response to a question from Lord Boswell in 2011 Hansard vol. 725, column 1607, 9 March 2011.We have not formally updated this costing but we have reconsidered the evidence based on the latest information and our analysis indicates that the cost of breaking the link between the Pension Credit qualifying age and women’s State Pension age is likely to be significantly higher than previously estimated for a number of reasons including:- Women under State Pension age would be entitled to larger amounts of Pension Credit than the original analysis assumed.- This may incentivise more women to stop working and claim Pension Credit instead.In addition to the impacts considered above there would also be increased expenditure on other benefits, most notably Housing Benefit, localised Council Tax Support, the Warm Home Discount and Cold Weather Payments which were not included in the original figures.

Department for Work and Pensions: Data Protection

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Energy and Climate Change on sharing data on households in receipt of welfare benefits; and what privacy safeguards apply to sharing individuals' data with other Departments.

Justin Tomlinson: The Warm Home Discount Scheme was introduced in 2011 as a joint initiative between the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and energy suppliers for which we need data sharing arrangements which are reviewed annually. The initiative exists to help vulnerable and low income households with their energy costs.By using an automated system, vulnerable pensioners do not have to go through a clerical claim process. Primary legislation removed the need for informed consent to the data-share for this purpose and a memorandum of understanding exists between DWP and DECC to ensure the successful delivery of the scheme. Legal gateway is provided by the Warm Home Discount Regulations 2011 and the Disclosure of State Pension Credit Information (Warm Home Discount) Regulations 2011 made in exercise of the powers conferred by the Energy Act 2010 and the Pension Act 2008.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are expected to be affected by the changes to the income thresholds in tax credits and work allowances in universal credit in each year from 2015-16 to 2020-21.

Priti Patel: Following the 2015 Autumn Statement tax credit taper rates and income thresholds remain unchanged. Therefore no claimants will be affected.The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the implications for his policies are of the finding of the National Audit Office in its recent report, Contracted-out health and disability assessments, HC 609, of 5 January 2016, that his Department is spending more on fit-for-work assessments than it is saving since reforming health and disability assessments.

Priti Patel: The purpose of the Work Capability Assessment is to assess fairly and accurately entitlement to benefit, not to generate savings.We have commissioned independent reviews which have all concluded that the assessment regimes for health related benefits remain fit for purpose.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that all residual legacy benefit caseloads will move onto universal credit by 2021 as forecast in the policy costings of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Priti Patel: Testing of the migration of legacy claimants onto Universal Credit will take place during 2017. Following this national migration will commence in 2018 and by 2020/21 the move to Universal Credit will be complete.

Council Tax Reduction Schemes and Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps Jobcentre Plus staff are taking to ensure that universal credit applicants are aware that council tax reduction should be claimed separately to universal credit.

Priti Patel: When a Universal Credit claimant attends their first interview with their Work Coach they are asked if they pay council tax and if they are already receiving a reduction. If not, they are advised and signposted to make the claim through their Local Authority.

Universal Credit: Children

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants will be informed of the change in their support on the fifth birthday of their youngest child; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel: For all claimants where a change in circumstance is known (such as children turning 5), their requirements will be fully reviewed with the Work Coach and they will prepare the claimant for this transition in advance.

Ministry of Defence

Merchant Shipping and Royal Fleet Auxiliary: National Security

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the importance of the (a) Merchant Navy and (b) Royal Fleet Auxiliary to the security of the UK.

Penny Mordaunt: The Ministry of Defence together with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Home Office and the Department for Transport, published the UK National Strategy for Maritime Security (NSMS) in May 2014. This cross-Government paper encompasses all aspects of the UK's maritime domain, including the Merchant Navy whose cooperation, as part of the Red Ensign Group, is important to maintaining our national security and prosperity.The Royal Fleet Auxiliary plays a key role in maritime security either by directly supporting Royal Navy ships on operations or, occasionally, conducting operations in their own right. Her Majesty's Government places great importance on all maritime capabilities, with the NSMS setting out the whole-of-Government approach required to secure the seas and oceans that Britain depends on.

Syria: Military Intervention

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any person or body has sought disclosure of documents relevant to the decision to target Reyaad Khan by drone strike in Syria on 21 August 2015 for purposes related to the Inquiry by the Intelligence and Security Committee into that matter.

Michael Fallon: The Prime Minister discussed the scope of the Intelligence and Security Committee's (ISC) Inquiry with its Chairman. They reached agreement on the disclosure of material to the ISC that will enable the Committee to conduct a review of the threat posed by Reyaad Khan. The ISC have received contemporaneous intelligence assessments of Khan and will take further evidence in the coming weeks.

Armed Forces Bill: Channel Islands

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timescale is for the extension of the provisions of the Armed Forces Bill to the Channel Islands.

Mark Lancaster: Clause 21 of the Armed Forces Bill provides for the Bill’s extent outside the United Kingdom. Clause 21(1) deals specifically with extent in the Channel Islands. By extent, we mean the jurisdictions outside the United Kingdom in which the Bill’s provisions will, or may, form part of the law. There are no provisions in the Bill which extend automatically to the Channel Islands but the changes that the Bill makes to the Armed Forces Act 2006 may be extended there by Order in Council (though it does not necessarily follow that such an Order will be made). The other changes that the Bill makes (such as changes to the powers of MOD fire-fighters) may not be extended to the Channel Islands.We are not currently aware of any requirements which would necessitate an Order in Council being made to extend to the Channel Islands any of the changes that the Bill makes to the Armed Forces Act 2006. However, it should be noted that the question of whether the 2006 Act extends to (i.e. forms part of the law of) the Channel Islands is entirely separate from the question of whether members of the Armed Forces are subject to the 2006 Act as a matter of UK law when they are in the Channel Islands. As a matter of UK law, the 2006 Act applies to members of the Armed Forces wherever they are in the world.

Navy: Deployment

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 for the Royal Navy's global reach.

Michael Fallon: The Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) provides the investment necessary to deliver the most modern Navy in the world, capable of delivering effect around the globe. The SDSR sets out plans to grow the capability and manpower of the Royal Navy, including a renewed Strategic Deterrent; 100% Aircraft Carrier availability from two carriers; more F-35B jets, with 24 embarked on the Aircraft Carriers from 2023 or earlier; at least 19 Frigates and Destroyers including Type 45 Destroyers, Type 26 Frigates and a new generation of credible general purpose frigates; new Offshore Patrol Vessels and new tanker support ships; and nine New Maritime Patrol Aircraft, working alongside our submarines and frigates to protect the Deterrent and our Aircraft Carriers and keep our seas safe.

Ministry of Defence: Staff

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department keeps a record of former employees of the Ministry of Defence who are now serving in foreign militaries.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) holds records of former employees of the MOD who have applied to serve in foreign militaries under the Business Appointments process. However, it is not known if these individuals went on to take up the appointment.

Ministry of Defence: Data Protection

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions his Department has been notified by external consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials.

Mark Lancaster: In the calendar year 2014 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) was notified of 142 breaches involving document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials by external consultants or other third parties respectively.In the calendar year 2015 the MOD was notified of 144 breaches involving document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials by external consultants or other third parties.The MOD treats the security of its information very seriously and requires all breaches - however minor - to be reported. All such incidents are subjected to an initial security risk assessment, with further action taken on a proportionate basis.

Navy: Military Bases

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the relative distribution of engineering workload across naval bases; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: As part of the Surface Ship Support Alliance between the Ministry of Defence, BAE Systems and Babcock Marine, the relative distribution of engineering workload is subject to regular assessment. This ensures that peaks and troughs of workload are managed to ensure key skills are maintained across the Naval Bases, engineering outputs are delivered in accordance with the needs of the Royal Navy, and the Department obtains best value for money from its industry partners.The workload allocation for submarines is dictated by a clearly defined programme of work designed to meet the operational requirements of the Fleet. This programme has been constructed noting the capability and capacity of Her Majesty's Naval Bases at Clyde and Devonport and work is allocated accordingly.

Unmanned Air Vehicles: Deployment

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy that the House be given an opportunity to debate in advance any decision to deploy UK Reaper aircraft outside Syria and Iraq.

Michael Fallon: No.

Navy: South China Sea

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any vessels of the Royal Navy or the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have exercised or sought to exercise freedom of navigation or passage rights in disputed areas of the South China Sea claimed by the government of the People's Republic of China since 2010.

Penny Mordaunt: No Royal Navy or Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels have exercised Freedom of Navigation in disputed areas of the South China Sea since 2010.The UK strongly asserts its right, and supports the right of all States, to exercise Freedom of Navigation in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Nuclear Weapons: Decommissioning

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government's policy is on further developing the necessary facilities and skills for the UK to become a world centre of expertise in the dismantling of formerly-armed nuclear warheads.

Michael Fallon: As we set out in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, we will reduce the overall stockpile of nuclear warheads to no more than 180 by the mid 2020s. The Government is investing in the Atomic Weapons Establishment, which is responsible for supporting the entire life-cycle of the UK's nuclear warheads, from design and manufacture, to maintenance and certification of the existing warhead stockpile, and, ultimately, to decommissioning and disposal. In addition, the UK is co-operating with international partners - particularly the US and Norway - on a verification regime for the dismantlement of a nuclear weapon that could support any potential future nuclear disarmament treaty.

Ministry of Defence: Cybercrime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many employees in his Department have (a) taken the CESG Certified Cyber-Security Training Course and (b) received other relevant cyber-security training.

Penny Mordaunt: CESG certify a range of cyber security training courses, such as the Open University Introduction to Cyber Security and the MSc in Cyber through Cranfield University. As most employees complete these courses in their own time, it is not a requirement to record it on departmental systems. It would be impossible to present accurate statistics for their take-up as this information is either not held, or not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.All users of MOD IT systems, some 255,000 people (both civilian and military), are mandated to undertake the Defence Information Management Passport, an e-learning course, which includes a cyber security element. In addition all Services have now implemented Cyber Awareness Training across their Single Service introductory training. Further, a range of cyber security material is promulgated, including briefings, online and hardcopy materials, in order to maintain awareness across Defence.

Army: Reserve Forces

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people applied to join the Army Reserve in 2015; and how many such applications were successful.

Mr Julian Brazier: Defence Statistics publish information on a regular basis showing intake figures for the Armed Forces, including the Army and Army Reserve. The most recent information is contained in 'UK Armed Forces Monthly Service Personnel Statistics: December 2015' and associated tables, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-index.The number of applications to the Army Reserve in the 12 months ending 30 September 2015 was 29,730. The intake of Army Reserve New Entrants in the 12 months ending 30 September 2015 was 3,750.There is not necessarily a direct correlation between the individual applicants who applied within the period above, and the individuals who were classed as new entrants within the same period: due to the time taken to process applications, not all new entrants would have been applicants during the period specified.New Entrants reflect intake into the initial phase of training only, and comprise new recruits, ex-Regulars and Reserve re-joiners that require training.'UK Armed Forces Monthly Service Personnel Statistics: 1 January 2016' will be published on 11 February 2016.

Home Office

Asylum: Children

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support unaccompanied trafficked and asylum seeking children; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office takes its responsibility for the welfare of children very seriously and recognises the additional vulnerability of unaccompanied children. The best interests of the child are a primary consideration in every decision taken in respect of children and we work closely with local authorities, children’s services and other agencies to ensure unaccompanied trafficked and asylum seeking children receive appropriate support and care.Immigration staff are trained to identify potential victims of trafficking and to refer them to the National Referral Mechanism - a multi-agency victim identification and support process for responsible agencies to co-operate, share information and facilitate access to support. The Home Office also has dedicated asylum decision makers for children’s cases who receive additional training on specific child related issues.

Visas: South Asia

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 visas were (a) applied for and (b) awarded to (i) Bangladeshis, (ii) Indians and (iii) Pakistanis in each year since such visas were introduced.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is given in the following tables.The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, April-June 2015’, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics



Tier 2 visa applications
(Excel SpreadSheet, 21.5 KB)

Visas: Married People

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to equalise fees for spousal visas for spouses of UK citizens and such fees for spouses of EU citizens resident in the UK.

James Brokenshire: We have no plans to equalise these fees.

Vetting: Nurses

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make support available to trainee nurses unable to complete their courses because of delays in the processing of their applications for Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 22 January 2016



The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) aims to process all applications within the shortest time possible. The vast majority of applicants do receive their certificates in a timely manner and in December the average processing time for DBS applications was 15.3 days.It is important that checks undertaken are thorough and sometimes the DBS needs to refer an application to one or more local police forces as part of the enhanced certificate checking process. Unfortunately, a small number of forces have been experiencing difficulties in completing their checks within expected timescales.Where delays occur in the processing of DBS certificates, prospective employers of trainee nurses and other healthcare employees who will be working with adults only are able to use a service known as Adult First. Adult First is an online facility provided for healthcare workers by the DBS that can be used in cases where, exceptionally, and in accordance with the terms of Department of Health guidance, a person is permitted to start work with adults before a DBS Certificate has been obtained.

Gender Recognition: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have registered as transgender in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: Children born in England or Wales are registered in the birth register as being either male or female. Transgender is not a term used to describe the sex of a child at birth registration.The Gender Recognition Act 2004 enables transgender people aged 18 or over to apply to the Gender Recognition Panel to obtain a gender recognition certificate – legal recognition of their acquired gender. That certificate is used to create an entry in the Gender Recognition Register, maintained by the Registrar General, from which a new birth certificate can be issued. There are, therefore, no records of children (under the age of 18) in this register.Gender Recognition Registers are also held in respect of births in Northern Ireland and Scotland by the relevant Registrars General.

Extortion

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent extortion cases.

Mr John Hayes: We are clear that the police and other law enforcement agencies where appropriate, should take reports of extortion seriously and investigate them appropriately. Those who commit offences involving extortion should be taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.The Anti-Kidnap and Extortion Unit in the National Crime Agency undertakes awareness raising to assist law enforcement agencies’ understanding of the threat.

Airports: Security

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has reached an agreement with the US government on the placement of US border guards in UK airports.

James Brokenshire: The US operates border pre-clearance facilities at a number of international airports to allow passengers on flights to the US to clear US customs and immigration controls before they arrive in the US. The US Government seeks to negotiate such arrangements with the relevant UK airports, as any interested airport would need to adapt its operations accordingly. However the introduction of pre-clearance operations would also require approval by the UK Government. We continue to discuss pre-clearance with the US but no formal agreement has yet been reached.

Vetting

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will take steps to assist with the backlog of Disclosure and Barring Service applications.

Karen Bradley: The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) aims to process all certificates within 56 calendar days and nationally DBS meets this target. The vast majority of applicants do receive their certificates in a timely manner and in December the average processing time for DBS applications was 15.3 days.It is important that checks undertaken are thorough and sometimes the DBS needs to refer an application to one or more local police forces as part of the enhanced certificate checking process. Unfortunately, a small number of forces have been experiencing difficulties in completing their checks within expected timescales.DBS has been working closely with forces who are not meeting performance targets to ensure that their performance improves as quickly as possible. The Home Office is taking a keen interest in this work.

Refugees: Syria

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to increase the number of psychological and psychiatric specialist services available for Syrian refugees and asylum seekers in Northern Ireland.

James Brokenshire: In respect of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme we are working with Northern Ireland as well as with other devolved administrations and local authorities to ensure that they are only asked to welcome Syrian refugees that their local structures are able to support. We are talking to them and other partners to ensure that capacity can be identified and the impact on those taking new cases can be managed in a fair and controlled way.

Refugees: Syria

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Syrian refugees and asylum seekers were informed of mental health provisions they could expect in Northern Ireland before they agreed to settle there.

James Brokenshire: The Syrian Vunerable Persons Resettlement scheme prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in their region of origin. Northern Ireland, in common with other devolved administrations and local authorities, is provided with full case details of all referrals before deciding whether to accept them for resettlement so they can make an assessment of whether they have the infrastructure and support networks needed to ensure the appropriate care and integration of these refugees. Whilst the Government provides funding to ensure these needs can be met, it is up to individual local authorities to decide how this should be achieved.

Home Office: Data Protection

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions her Department has been notified by external consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials in each of the last two years.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has no recorded breaches of material classified as ‘confidential’ or ‘official sensitive’ or above for contractors during the period from January 2014 to date. During this period, in April 2014, the Government Security Classification markings changed from a six-tier protective marking system (unclassified, protect, restricted, confidential, secret and top secret) to a three-tier system (official, secret and top secret). Official - Sensitive is a handling caveat of the 'Official' tier in the Government Security Classifications (GSC) Policy. Official-Sensitive is not a separate classification.

Offenders: Deportation

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provision is made for victims of crimes committed by foreign prisoners to access information about the progress of their deportation.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 26 January 2016



A victim may contact the Home Office directly or make a request via their Victim Liaison Officer (VLO) for information on the progress of a foreign prisoner’s deportation. The Home Office will inform the victim or their VLO on whether deportation is being pursued or has been enforced.

Visas: Skilled Workers

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many skilled migrant visas were issued in respect of each category of industry in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) 2015.

James Brokenshire: The available published information relates to Certificates of Sponsorship used in Tier 2 (skilled work) visa applications and is given in the table below. Corresponding data for 2015 will be published on 25 February 2016.Applicants for visas for skilled work (Tier 2) using sponsorship certificates, by industry type Industry20102011201220132014Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing12129314740Mining and Quarrying665930828844849Manufacturing2,0242,2492,3182,5532,617Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply14083116204131Water Supply; Sewerage, Waste Management etc.1326343431Construction of buildings317304503567468Wholesale and Retail Trade; Vehicle Repairs550535599657673Transportation and Storage301270373340378Accommodation and Food Service Activities2,225799444502393Information and Communication17,15316,84417,51620,16023,150Financial and Insurance Activities5,8025,5685,3235,8746,529Real estate activities39323963110Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities6,8007,1787,3278,58710,438Administrative and Support Activities378396379539528Public administration and defence; compulsory social security176715676121Education1,5881,3402,0282,6592,739Human Health and Social Work Activities2,9151,5651,5862,1143,121Arts, Entertainment and Recreation633690575638725Other Service Activities5785796581,3701,515Activities of households as employers etc.118464Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies41551111Total42,43339,51140,74247,84554,571Source:Immigration Statistics July-September 2015, Home Office, table cs_03.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476887/sponsorship-q3-2015-tabs.odsInformation on Certificates of Sponsorship used in visa applications is published in the Sponsorship table cs_03 in the Home Office’s Immigration Statistics release. The latest edition, Immigration Statistics: July to September 2015 is available from the Library of the House and on the GOV.UK statistics web pages at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.

Worker Registration Scheme

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that registration on the Worker Registration Scheme between 2009 and 2011 has no bearing on any subsequent application to naturalise as a British citizen.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 26 January 2016



The requirements for naturalisation are set out in the British Nationality Act 1981. There is no power in law to naturalise a person who does not meet the statutory requirements.There are no specific provisions in place for those who were required to register on the Worker Registration Scheme between 2009 and 2011 but failed to do so.

Litvinenko Inquiry

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost was to the public purse of the public inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko; and what the average cost was to the public purse of inquiries into suspicious deaths undertaken by coroners over the last three years.

Mr John Hayes: Holding answer received on 26 January 2016



The public inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko publishes costs on its website https://www.litvinenkoinquiry.org/costs. As of 31st December 2015, the inquiry had spent £2.25m. Final figures are still being calculated.Coroners are a local service, funded independently of central government by local authorities. The total cost to the public of inquiries into suspicious deaths over the last three years is therefore not available.

Cleveland Police

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) police officers, (b) police and staff, (c) police community support officers were in post in Cleveland in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013, (v) 2014 and (vi) 2015.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 27 January 2016



Data on the number of full time equivalent (FTE) police officers, police staff and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in Cleveland police force area, as at 31 March in each of the requested years, are provided in the following table.Number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) police officers, police staff and PCSOs as at 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2015, Cleveland Constabulary1Situation as at:PoliceofficersPolicestaffPCSOs31 March 20101,72471119331 March 20111,65523517831 March 20121,52922316731 March 20131,46321616131 March 20141,38220115031 March 20151,3261971231. Police officer strength statistics are published in the data tables of the annual Police Workforce, England and Wales, statistical publication (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales).As HM Inspectorate of Constabulary has made clear, there is no simple link between police numbers and crime levels, between numbers and the visibility of police in the community, or between numbers and the quality of service provided.

Refugees: Syria

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the implications for her policies are of the decision by other countries to confiscate the belongings of Syrian refugees over a certain value to meet the costs of their stay.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Visas: Domestic Service

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people (a) have applied for and (b) were issued with a (i) Domestic Workers in a Private Household visa and (ii) the Private Servants in a Diplomatic Household visa in each year since 2009-10; and how many of such people in each such year and for each visa category were (A) subsequently found non-compliant with terms of that visa and (B) deported.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22948, whether her Department has recorded all EU countries other than Greece as complying with the Dublin Convention.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Sexual Offences: Tees Valley

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the increase in sexual offences on Teesside.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Offenders: Deportation

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the effect on victims of her Department not having information about the status and supervision of deported criminals who have been returned to their home countries.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Radicalism: Young People

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle extremism in British young people.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Home Office: Cybercrime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employees in her Department have (a) taken the CESG Certified Cyber-Security Training Course and (b) received other relevant cyber-security training.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scotland Office

Bill of Rights: Scotland

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on (a) the nature of the Government's consultation on the proposed Bill of Rights and associated measures and (b) ensuring that that timing does not overlap with the period of the purdah of the Scottish Government or the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament.

David Mundell: I meet with Cabinet colleagues and other ministers regularly to discuss a wide range of matters. We are committed to consulting fully on our proposals prior to the introduction of any legislation and we will announce further details in due course.

HM Treasury

Small Businesses: Insurance

Bill Esterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to improve the monitoring of late payments by insurance companies to claims made by small and medium-sized enterprises.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government recognises the importance of prompt payment by insurers and has taken steps in the Enterprise Bill to introduce a requirement for insurers to pay all claims within a reasonable time and entitle policyholders, including small and medium sized enterprises, to damages where claims are paid late.

Help to Buy Scheme

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to provide assistance to people who have purchased homes under the Help to Buy scheme in the event that interest rates subsequently rise.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government does not have any plans to provide additional assistance to those who have purchased a home under the Help to Buy scheme, in the event of a rise in interest rates.Since April 2014, lenders have had to conduct an affordability assessment which includes a robust income and expenditure analysis. In addition, lenders must consider the impact of future interest rate increases on affordability.This ensures that mortgages are only advanced where there is a reasonable expectation that the customer can repay.

Property: Valuation

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the number of people in the UK who own property worth over £1 million.

Mr David Gauke: The information requested is not available.Information on the number of property transactions over £1m is available at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/property-transactions-in-the-ukHowever, recently transacted properties form only a small proportion of the total stock of properties. Many property transactions will also involve multiple purchasers. Finally, many historic purchases below £1m will now be worth more that £1m due to property price inflation. Therefore this information should be considered very much a lower boundary.

Welfare Tax Credits

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 22263, what procedures, budgets and facilities are in place to compensate tax credit claimants for the cost and inconvenience of losing supporting documents confirming identity and finances lost by the Tax Credit Office.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) policy in respect of compensation payments is that they will consider refunding any reasonable costs that customers may have incurred due to their mistakes and/or unreasonable delays. If HMRC actions are judged to have affected a customer particularly badly, they may pay a small amount to acknowledge their mistake and for any worry or distress they may have caused. These payments are made out of the public purse and are not intended to put a monetary value on any worry and upset.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Public Expenditure

Nia Griffith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 24 July 2015 to Question 7618, what was factored into the budget of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the 2015 Spending Review as a result of the decision to end student maintenance grants in England.

Greg Hands: Replacing maintenance grants with higher maintenance loans is putting additional cash in the hands of students to enable them to go to university. Building up from 2017-18, this is estimated to save £2.5bn a year from public sector net borrowing in steady state given expected student number growth. This change was accounted for in the Spending Review settlement for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Barnett formula was applied in the usual way.

Sanitary Protection: VAT

Neil Gray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on allocating money raised from VAT on sanitary products to women's groups; where that money has been allocated; and how local groups may apply for funding support.

Mr David Gauke: Initial donations from the sanitary products VAT women’s charities fund totalling £5 million have been made to support The Eve Appeal, SafeLives and Women’s Aid, and The Haven. Further donations and recipients will be announced at Budget 2016, and further rounds of donations will follow at future fiscal events.Charities interested in applying should email the Treasury directly at Tampontax.Fund@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk stating their interest in the fund, including an overview of the nature of their proposal and the amount they are requesting. Following this they will be given further details of the bidding process and the detailed information required.

Balance of Payments

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings he has had on the growth of the current account deficit.

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has met with representatives from the Bank of England on the current account deficit; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England are statutorily required to meet to discuss the Financial Stability Report (FSR), and any other matters relating to the stability of the UK financial system, as soon as is reasonably practicable after the publication of the report.At the most recent of these meetings—following the July 2015 FSR—the current account was discussed and the details of the meeting are published online by the Treasury at www.gov.uk.

Balance of Payments

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential consequences of the current account deficit on the UK economy; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: Despite narrowing in Q3 2015 to -3.7 per cent of GDP, the current account deficit remains high by historical standards. The widening in the UK current account deficit in recent years has been driven by a deterioration in the UK’s net investment income from abroad, while the trade deficit has continued to improve. The Office for Budget Responsibility expect the income account to “improve gradually over the forecast period” as the factors that have temporarily depressed the returns on the UK’s net assets are expected to recede, and the current account deficit continues to narrow to -2.1 per cent by 2020. Furthermore, the government’s plan to complete the repair of the public finances will support a gradual narrowing of the current account deficit, limiting any effect on the exchange rate, though we remain vigilant to the risks.

Balance of Payments

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the increasing current account deficit on the UK economy.

Harriett Baldwin: Despite narrowing in Q3 2015 to -3.7 per cent of GDP, the current account deficit remains high by historical standards. The widening in the UK current account deficit in recent years has been driven by a deterioration in the UK’s net investment income from abroad, while the trade deficit has continued to improve. The Office for Budget Responsibility expect the income account to “improve gradually over the forecast period” as the factors that have temporarily depressed the returns on the UK’s net assets are expected to recede, and the current account deficit continues to narrow to -2.1 per cent by 2020. Furthermore, the government’s plan to complete the repair of the public finances will support a gradual narrowing of the current account deficit, limiting any effect on the exchange rate, though we remain vigilant to the risks.

Balance of Payments

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessments he has made of the effect of the level of the current account deficit on the future strength of the pound sterling.

Harriett Baldwin: The widening in the UK current account deficit in recent years has been driven by a deterioration in the UK’s net investment income from abroad, while the trade deficit has continued to improve. The Office for Budget Responsibility expect factors that have depressed the returns on the UK’s net assets, such as the relative weakness in economic activity in the UK’s trading partners, to recede. The current account deficit is forecast to narrow to -2.1 per cent by 2020, limiting any impact on the exchange rate. Furthermore, the government’s plan to complete the repair of the public finances will support a gradual narrowing of the current account deficit.

Financial Conduct Authority

Wes Streeting: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings have taken place between officials of his Department and the Financial Conduct Authority since May 2015.

Wes Streeting: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings Ministers of his Department have had with the Financial Conduct Authority since May 2015.

Harriett Baldwin: Treasury Ministers and officials meet regularly with the Financial Conduct Authority to discuss relevant regulatory issues.As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

Banks

Wes Streeting: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations his Department has made to the Financial Conduct Authority on its review of banking culture since May 2015.

Harriett Baldwin: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent regulator. No Treasury Minister or official made any representations to the FCA about its review of banking culture before the FCA decided to discontinue that review.

Treasury: Domestic Visits

Wes Streeting: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which constituencies he has visited in an official capacity since 7 May 2015; when each such visit took place; and what the purpose was of each such visit.

Harriett Baldwin: The Chancellor has visited constituencies all across the UK on official tour days since 7 May 2015. Please refer to the transparency data published on gov.uk for further information.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Carbon Sequestration

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effects of ending funding for Carbon Capture Storage on employment and carbon reduction targets in (a) the North West and (b) the UK.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 21 January 2016



The UK met the first carbon budget and is on track to meet the second and third carbon budgets for 2013-17 and 2018-2022, respectively. We will set out policies and proposals for meeting the fourth and fifth carbon budgets at the end of 2016, after setting the fifth carbon budget level by 30 June.The Government’s most recently published Energy and Emissions Projections can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2015 (Annex J)The Office for National Statistics estimates in its report on the Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy that 96,510 businesses were active in the UK’s low carbon and renewable energy sector in 2014 and accounted for an estimated:233,000 full-time equivalent employees£45.3 billion turnover; £4.8billion in exports; and £5.9 billion imports£8.8 billion in acquisitions and £0.5billion in disposals of capital assetsThe full report is available at:http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_426448.pdf.

Climate Change Convention: Paris

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to implement the Paris climate change agreement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Paris Agreement marks a significant step forward towards reducing, on a global scale, the emissions that cause climate change. The agreed long-term goal of net zero emissions in the second half of the century shows that the world is committed to decarbonisation and the agreement drives us forward on our path to limiting the average global temperature rise to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts to 1.5 °C. We must now work hard to continue the global momentum created by the Paris deal by supporting countries to implement their emission reduction commitments; ensuring we meet our own commitments; and continuing to build the conditions for the transition to a low carbon economy to enable further ambition in the future.The UK’s contribution to the Paris Agreement will be determined by our commitments to meeting EU climate and energy targets, and by the UK’s own domestic framework, comprising a 2050 emissions reduction target of at least 80% on 1990 base year levels and a series of five-year carbon budgets, as established by the Climate Change Act 2008.We will also set the level of the Fifth Carbon Budget, covering the period 2028-2032, in law by the end of June this year. This will be followed by our new emission reduction plan, which is due to be published towards the end of the year.Governments alone cannot deliver the scale of action required, businesses, investors and civil society all have a role to play. Many are already acting and Paris saw an unprecedented level of engagement and commitment to reduce emissions and drive forward low carbon growth and markets. This action will help unlock the transition to a low carbon economy and support the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Environment Protection: Investment

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of whether there have been market failures in green and low carbon investment over the last five years; and if she will make an assessment of the most important potential threats to such investment.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 25 January 2016



Electricity Market Reform was introduced to overcome barriers to investment and deployment of large scale low carbon UK power generation. The UK has enjoyed record levels of deployment of renewables in recent years and the Government has also agreed a deal to bring forward the first new nuclear power station in a generation. Increasingly, as we benefit from the lower technology costs arising from this deployment, we can expect competitive forces increasingly to stimulate further investment in the low carbon power generation that the country needs.

Wind Power

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect of the removal of eligibility for Renewables Obligations Certificates on businesses seeking to develop onshore wind farms.

Andrea Leadsom: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield to Question 22287 on Wind Power, on 18 January 2016:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-01-13/22287/.

Energy: Meters

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government is taking to improve the process of switching suppliers for customers with prepayment meters.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is working with Ofgem on a programme of work to radically overhaul the change of supplier process for gas and electricity customers and deliver reliable next day switching.The Government’s commitment to ensuring every home in Britain is offered a smart meter by the end of 2020 will enable quicker and easier switching for all customers, including those with pre-payment meters. A number of suppliers are already offering or trialling smart pre-payment services to consumers.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Data Protection

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on how many occasions in each of the last two calendar years her Department has been notified by outside consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials.

Andrea Leadsom: No notifications have been received.

Aviation: Fines

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether all fines issued in June 2015 by the Environment Agency to aircraft operators for failure to surrender allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System were paid by the deadline.

Andrea Leadsom: The Environment Agency did not issue any fines in June 2015 to aircraft operators for failure to surrender allowances under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. However, the Environment Agency did publish in June 2015 the details of five civil penalties that had previously been issued to operators for failure to surrender sufficient allowances to cover reportable emissions in the 2012 scheme year. None of these civil penalties have yet been paid. The Environment Agency is taking action to recover the penalties as a civil debt, in line with UK law.

Iron and Steel: Energy

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations her Department has received from the Welsh Government on energy costs for the steel industry in the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: We have regular contact with all the Devolved Administrations across the Department’s responsibilities, including in relation to the current challenges facing the steel industry.The Welsh Government has participated in the three Ministerial Working Groups which the Government established as part of our comprehensive response to the current market conditions faced by the UK steel industry.The Government has taken clear action to help the steel industry, including on electricity costs. Since 2013, the UK steel industry has received over £59m in compensation for the cost of the EU Emissions Trading System and the Carbon Price Floor passed to them by their electricity suppliers onto their bills. UK steel companies can now also apply for compensation for the costs of renewables policies that are passed on through bills.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: Shipping

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for what reasons two empty armed transporter ships owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and capable of carrying fissile nuclear materials departed Barrow-in-Furness on 19 January 2016; and what the destination of those ships is.

Andrea Leadsom: Two specialist nuclear cargo vessels, which are UK flagged, are currently taking part in a voyage which is approved by all relevant authorities, including the UK Government. In accordance with normal procedures, no further details of their voyage can be disclosed at this stage for security reasons.

Coal

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will ensure that her Department's coal consultation, announced in her speech of 18 November 2015, examines how the UK electricity generation market can use as high a proportion as possible of UK-produced coal; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: On 18 November 2015, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced an intention to consult on proposals to close all unabated coal-fired power stations by 2025 and restrict the use of unabated coal power from 2023. The proportion of UK-produced coal used in power stations is determined by the commercial decisions of the owners of power stations about where to source coal cost-competitively.

Energy

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans she has to share Government data with (a) Ofgem and (b) energy companies in relation to fuel poverty and energy efficiency.

Andrea Leadsom: Government data is currently shared with Ofgem and the licenced electricity suppliers for the purposes of delivering automatic energy bill rebates to customers in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit under the Warm Home Discount scheme. We intend to consult on the future design of the scheme, including the use of Government data, and are considering how good use of data can help us more widely to address fuel poverty.

Renewable Energy: Investment

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect of recent changes to wind and solar power regulations on investor confidence in the green economy.

Andrea Leadsom: DECC is committed to providing investors with certainty and recognises the importance of the financial markets in the energy sector. We are engaging regularly with developers and investors on how policy decisions impact their investments, both present and future.In order to protect investor confidence, DECC has made it clear that no onshore wind or solar projects already accredited and that have started to receive support under subsidy schemes will be affected by the recent regulatory changes. We have provided grace periods and exceptions to the removal of grandfathering to protect those who have already made significant financial commitments or who experience grid delays.

Renewable Energy

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when the CfD allocation round will open for applications from renewable energy developers; and what the conditions will be for applications to a second CfD allocation round.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government will hold three Contracts for Difference auctions in this Parliament with the next auction for less established technologies expected to take place by the end of 2016. We are currently working with HM Treasury to finalise the budget for future auctions and will set out more information in due course.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) tariffs will apply to the different domestic heat and non-heat categories of the RHI scheme.

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when her Department will implement a programme of enhanced preliminary accreditation for large scale renewable heat projects to provide bankable investor certainty.

Andrea Leadsom: We intend to reform the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to improve value for money and reduce costs; improve cost control and budget management; and explore the best way to support ‘less able to pay’ households and owners of large plants. We plan to consult on the changes shortly. Ofgem will continue to run the RHI under the current rules, while we consider the reform of the scheme.

Cabinet Office

Charities: Radicalism

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ensure that charity commissions across the UK collaborate to ensure that extremist groups are unable to obtain charitable status.

Mr Rob Wilson: There are three bodies that regulate charities in the UK; the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. In all three jurisdictions organisations must be established for exclusively charitable purposes to be recognised and registered as charities. All applications to register an organisation as a charity are determined by whether or not an organisation meets the legal test for registration. All three bodies have robust processes for assessing any application for registration as a charity. The three regulators regularly meet to discuss areas of common concern and have provisions in their respective legislation which facilitates the exchange of information to assist and enable another to discharge their statutory functions.

Civil Servants: Redundancy

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of civil service redundancies in the last 12 months on the effectiveness of departments' work.

Matthew Hancock: To remain the best in the world, the Civil Service needs to respond to both the challenges and opportunities of our times.The Civil Service continues to require new and different skills to respond to the fiscal environment, global competition and changes in technology, whilst at the same time delivering better services more efficiently: in short, doing more for less.The size of the Civil Service has already reduced by 20% since March 2010 and has helped save taxpayers £2.8bn over the last Parliament. Despite this reduction in numbers, employee engagement rates were higher in 2015 than in 2010 and departments have successfully maintained delivery of our public services.

Dormant Assets Commission: Grants

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria have been set to access Dormant Assets Commission funds.

Mr Rob Wilson: The Commission on Dormant Assets will will provide advice on which dormant assets can be brought into an expanded dormant assets scheme. The Committee remit will also include a suggested mechanism through which dormant assets could be redirected by Government to good causes.

Dormant Assets Commission: Membership

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who is on the board of the Dormant Assets Commission, announced on 19 December 2015.

Mr Rob Wilson: Nick O’Donohoe, outgoing Chief Executive of Big Society Capital, was announced as Chair of the new Commission on Dormant Assets on December 19 2015. The Commission is still being set up and I expect the appointments of commissioners who will work with the Chair to be finalised shortly.

Death: Weather

Julie Cooper: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the excess winter mortality rate was for (a) the North West and (b) Burnley in winter 2014-15.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Winter Mortality Rate
(PDF Document, 66.8 KB)

Electoral Register: Young People

Helen Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much Government funding has been allocated to help increase the number of young people on the electoral register.

John Penrose: Between 2013-2015 the Government allocated over £14 million at national and local level to increase the number of people on the electoral register. This included funding to organisations such as NUS, Bite The Ballot, UK Youth and vInspired to promote youth registration. We also produce and distribute "Rock Enrol!" educational material for schools to use in explaining and promoting electoral registration, and we are actively involved in the National Voter Registration Drive which starts next week.

Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Members: PAYE

Simon Hart: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how many P11D forms for 2014-15 were incorrectly issued by IPSA.

Mr Charles Walker: As a result of an mail merge error, IPSA issued incorrect P11D forms for 2014-15 to 536 MPs. The correct P11D information for all 650 MPs was sent to HMRC.

Members: PAYE

Simon Hart: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what discussions the Committee has had with IPSA on the reissuing of the P11D forms for hon. Members for 2014-15.

Simon Hart: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what information the Committee holds on steps being taken by IPSA to prevent errors in P11D forms for hon. Members occurring in future financial years.

Mr Charles Walker: I have received confirmation from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority that in 2014-15, an error with the mail merge used to create P11Ds resulted in incorrect forms being sent to Members.I understand from IPSA that they have taken steps to improve the quality checking process, and that staff will receive additional training in the production of P11Ds. In the longer term, IPSA is planning improvements to its information management systems which should reduce the likelihood of data discrepancies, like the one that led to this incident, occurring.

Members: PAYE

Simon Hart: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what discussions the Committee has had with HM Revenue and Customs on the reissuing of P11D forms for hon. Members for 2014-15.

Mr Charles Walker: The Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has not had any discussions with HM Revenue and Customs on the reissuing of P11D forms for MPs for 2014-15.I have received confirmation from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority that they have not had any discussions with HM Revenue and Customs relating to the incorrect issuing of P11Ds for 2014-15.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Milk: Prices

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has  made of the level of milk prices paid to farmers in comparison to their costs of production.

George Eustice: The latest AHDB league table suggests that average prices paid by milk purchasers ranged from 19.46 ppl to 34.68 ppl in November 2015. For farms in England in 2014/15, (latest available figures) The average cost of milk production in England was 29.2 pence per litre.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much compensation has been paid to farmers for loss of cattle in badger cull areas (a) in each of the three years before that cull started and (b) since that cull started.

George Eustice: The number of TB test reactor cattle removed in the Gloucestershire and Somerset badger control areas, in the three years prior to the start of the badger removal and in the first year thereafter, are shown in the following table. This information, up to 2013, is in the Bovine TB Surveillance Report for England 2014, which was published on www.gov.uk in August 2015. We plan to publish equivalent information in summer 2016 and 2017 respectively, for the badger control areas in 2014 and 2015.AreaTime period (in relation to cull)Reactor numbersSomerset2010 - Third year before1052011 - Second year before2792012 - First year before2462013 - Year 1 of cull208Gloucestershire2010 - Third year before2522011 - Second year before1962012 - First year before912013 - Year 1 of cull161 Data on the actual compensation paid for the loss of cattle could only be provided now at a disproportionate cost. The estimates in the following table are based on the numbers above and current average compensation rates.AreaTime period (in relation to cull)Estimate of compensation paidSomerset2010 - Third year before£120,9002011 - Second year before£321,2602012 - First year before£283,2602013 - Year 1 of cull£239,510Gloucestershire2010 - Third year before£290,1702011 - Second year before£225,6902012 - First year before£104,7802013 - Year 1 of cull£185,390Equivalent figures for the Dorset badger control area and for the second and third years in the Somerset and Gloucestershire badger control areas could only be provided at a disproportionate cost and are not shown here.

Farms: Floods

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make funds available to help clear up debris from the flooding of farmers' fields in cases in which those farmers have allowed that land to flood to help avoid flooding elsewhere.

Rory Stewart: Farmers that have allowed land to flood to help avoid flooding elsewhere may be eligible for a Farming Recovery Fund grant. However, farmers will need to demonstrate that that land is being used for agricultural production and that the recent storms have had an impact on their business.

Fertilisers: Prices

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from farmers on the price of fertilisers and other chemicals used on farm land and its relationship to the price of oil.

George Eustice: I have received no specific queries about price of fertilisers and other chemicals and their relation to the price of oil. The Government does have regard to the impact of prices for agricultural inputs on farmers and publishes the Agricultural Price Index (API), which is a set of indices of the prices paid and received by UK farmers for agricultural goods and services.

Department of Health

Radiography

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ask NHS England to publish the (a) work completed by, (b) current work programme of and (c) future topics that are due to be considered by the Clinical Reference Group on Interventional Radiology.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ask NHS England to publish the (a) work completed by, (b) current work programme of and (c) future topics that are due to be considered by the Clinical Reference Group on Vascular Disease.

Jane Ellison: It is for NHS England to determine what information it publishes in relation to the work of the Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs) and it has advised that the CRG work programmes will not be published. However, it has provided the following information on the work of the CRGs on interventional radiology and vascular disease respectively.The CRG on interventional radiology has, in conjunction with the hepatobiliary and cancer programmes, produced clinical policy on selective interventional radiotherapy (SIRT), and the commissioning through evaluation programmeon SIRT to collect further evidence on effectiveness.This work is continuing.The CRG’s current work programme is to support work across the medical and surgical CRGs where policy and service specifications include interventional radiological procedures.The role of CRGs across specialised imaging, interventional radiology and Positron emission tomography–computed tomography is being reviewed. Once this is agreed, the work programme for 2016/17 will be developed.NHS England has previously published a service specification and polices for vascular disease, which can be found at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-a/a04/It has also developed quality metrics.The CRG on vascular disease work programme for 2015/16 includes:- reviewing policies in line with changing practice;- revision of the service specification has been produced;- assessing specialised providers against the key quality indicators within the service specification; and- working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on technology appraisals relating to specialised vascular services.NHS England is currently working with stakeholders to identify potential areas to be included within the 2016/17 work programme for the CRG on vascular disease.

Health Education

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of the risk factors for chest, heart and stroke illness.

Jane Ellison: Responsibility for raising such public awareness in Scotland rests with the Scottish Government. In England, Public Health England (PHE) runs a range of national social marketing campaigns to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of certain life-threatening illnesses and to therefore improve rates of early diagnosis. These campaigns include the Be Clear on Cancer, Act FAST and a regional pilot on breathlessness as a symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure, raising awareness on lung cancer and heart and lung disease.PHE also runs a tobacco marketing programme with a range of activity that highlights the health harms of smoking, including demonstrating the link between smoking and cancer, and heart and lung disease. As well as encouraging smokers to make quit attempts the activity signposts to proven National Health Service tools/service to help them. These programmes have been shown to have a positive impact on reducing adult smoking prevalence.PHE works closely with the Department and NHS England to ensure that health care professionals are also targeted with campaign information to encourage earlier diagnoses and referrals.

Calderdale Royal Hospital: Private Finance Initiative

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will undertake an inquiry into the value for money of the PFI deal which funded the building of Calderdale Royal Hospital.

Alistair Burt: We have no plans to undertake such an inquiry. This Government launched an initiative in 2011 to extract savings and optimise value for money in operational private finance initiative (PFI) contracts. This included a pilot exercise at a major NHS PFI scheme which resulted in guidance with appropriate methodology and lessons learned being issued to all relevant NHS trusts in 2012. The Department has specialist officials to assist trusts in implementing the guidance.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he intends to answer the letter to him dated 19 November 2015 with regard to Mr R Short.

Alistair Burt: I responded to the hon. Member’s letter of 19 November 2015 on 21 January 2016.

Blood: Contamination

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20185, on what date his Department plans to publish the consultation and make an announcement on payment schemes for people affected by contaminated blood products.

Jane Ellison: The consultation on payment schemes for people given infected blood products was launched on 21 January 2016, on the same day I made an oral statement to the House, Official Report, columns 1583-85. The consultation is available at gov.uk.

Organs: Donors

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) heart, (b) lungs, (c) liver, (d) kidney and (e) cornea transplant donations there have been in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is in the following tables.Data extracted from the UK Transplant Registry as at January 2016 on all United Kingdom deceased organ donors in each of the last five financial years.2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15TotalNumber of deceased organ donors1,0101,0881,2121,3201,2825,912Number of organs donated:Hearts126136144204175785Lungs3623664134503911,982Livers7127838259329244,176Kidneys1,8892,0322,2652,4692,38711,042Corneas3403593784614011,939Source: NHS Blood and TransplantData extracted from the UK Transplant Registry as at January 2016 on all UK living organ donors in each of the last five financial years*.Living Donors2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15TotalKidney1,0211,0061,0671,1141,0495,257Liver2138312838156Source: NHS Blood and Transplant*Not including those transplants where the recipient receives an organ (s) from a donor, but is able to donate one of their organs to another.

Meningitis: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been diagnosed with meningitis in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) collects data on laboratory confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) which is a major cause of bacterial meningitis in England. The data do not distinguish between IMD presentation as meningitis or septicaemia. National data on the number of cases of IMD in England are published by PHE based on the number of laboratory confirmed cases.Table 1: Number of laboratory confirmed cases of IMD in England by epidemiological year: 2010/11 to 2014/15.2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15Cases of IMD1,009730769636724Source: PHE Health Protection Report, 2015

Tinnitus: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been diagnosed with tinnitus in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence estimates that around six million people in the United Kingdom have some form of tinnitus with about 600,000 experiencing it to an extent that it affects their quality of life.

Food: Labelling

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of food labelling on reducing the (a) calorie intake and (b) weight of people.

Jane Ellison: Feedback from consumers consistently indicates that clear food labelling helps people to make healthier choices. For example, the United Kingdom voluntary front of pack nutrition labelling scheme, recommended by UK Health Ministers in June 2013, incorporates percentage Reference Intakes information, together with the levels of energy kcal/kJ and four colour-coded nutrients: fat, saturates, sugars and salt. This helps consumers judge how much energy and nutrients a portion of the labelled food will contribute to their overall diet, and also enable them to compare products.The scheme is based on extensive consumer research and is the result of a full written public consultation, followed by collaboration with the food industry and groups representing consumers and public health interests to develop it.

Pain

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had to ensure that chronic pain management is adequately included in the education of healthcare professionals and medical students.

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve the care of, and better respond to, NHS patients with chronic pain.

Jane Ellison: Health Education England is responsible for providing national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service in England. The professional regulators, such as the General Medical Council, set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula. Higher Education Institutions are responsible for ensuring the programmes they provide allow students to meet these standards and outcomes. Royal colleges, such as the Royal College of General Practitioners also have responsibility for developing curricula for doctors and nurses, in particular postgraduate curricula. This process ensures that healthcare professionals have the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care, including in pain management, which is a required competency of all healthcare professionals.Many patients with chronic pain can be successfully supported and managed through routine primary and secondary care pain management services. It is important that patients with the most serious pain management issues are able to access specialist care. A patient whose pain is particularly difficult to manage may be referred to a specialised pain management service. Under the care of an expert multidisciplinary team, patients may be offered specialised pain management programmes specifically and more complex drug treatments.To support clinicians in the management of pain, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published several clinical guidelines on the treatment and management of different types of pain, such as migraine and back pain, as well as technical guidance on specific treatments, such as the use of opiates in palliative care and deep brain stimulation for chronic pain.

Dementia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on a connection between worry and dementia.

Jane Ellison: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had and continues to have discussions with a range of organisations about dementia including its signs and symptoms.Reducing the incidence of dementia, improving the treatment and care of people with dementia and improving dementia research, is a key priority for the Government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020 as a successor to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2012-2015.Under the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020, we set an ambition for:- Improved public awareness and understanding of the factors, which increase the risk of developing dementia and how people can reduce their risk by living more healthily. This should include a new healthy ageing campaign and access to tools such as a personalised risk assessment calculator as part of the NHS Health Check.- Increased identification of effective ways in which people can reduce their personal risk of developing dementia, including cardio-vascular and cognitive strategies, and ways of encouraging these approaches to improve public health and wellbeing.

Obesity: Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure weight-loss surgery is available to reduce the occurrence of (a) diabetes, (b) heart problems and (c) high blood pressure.

Jane Ellison: The commissioning responsibility for severe and complex obesity services will transfer from NHS England to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on 1 April 2016.Transferring commissioning to CCGs will offer more coherent commissioning of the whole obesity pathway and patients will continue to be able to access surgical services for this condition.

Stress

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support people suffering from acute stress.

Alistair Burt: Support for people experiencing acute stress is available through the improving access to psychological therapies programme which aims to help adults with common mental health conditions to recover. The programme uses a stepped care approach in which patients with higher need are referred for more intensive treatment.

Dementia: Greater London

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients in London are on the Quality and Outcomes Framework dementia register; and what the raw prevalence rate is for dementia in London.

Jane Ellison: Information is available in the format requested and is found in the following tables.The number of people on the dementia register is available in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), published by the Health and Social Care Information (HSCIC). Two editions of this are available: The latest published monthly figures available are for 31 December 2015.(1) This has been aggregated from practice level (7,436 practices) to London Commissioning Region and, for comparison purposes, England as a whole, using the latest ONS geographies (See Table A).The annual published figures however have the highest coverage and completeness (7,779 practices), with the most recent figures being for 31 March 2015.(2) This has been provided for London Commissioning Region and, for comparison purposes, England as a whole (See Table B).Table A: Number of patients on the QOF Dementia register in England, as at 31 December 2015Geographical areaNumber of PracticesList SizeRegisterPrevalence (per cent)England7,43656,003,836422,7020.75London Commissioning Region1,3339,169,15646,3350.51 Table B: Number of patients on the QOF Dementia register in England, as at 31 March 2015Geographical areaNumber of PracticesList SizeRegisterPrevalence (per cent)England7,77956,817,654419,0730.74London Commissioning Region1,4059,245,69045,3100.49Source:(1) HSCIC, Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) Recorded Dementia Diagnoses - December 2015 http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB19777>.(2) HSCIC, Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) - 2014-15 http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB18887.Prevalence = (number on clinical register / number on practice list) *100.

NHS: Repairs and Maintenance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost of backlog maintenance for each level of assessed risk was in the NHS (a) in total and (b) for each NHS organisation in each of the last five years.

George Freeman: The Backlog Maintenance cost reported by the National Health Service in total for the last five years is:Cost to eradicate high risk backlogCost to eradicate significant risk backlogCost to eradicate moderate risk backlogCost to eradicate low risk backlog£ million£ million£ million£ million2010-11321.71,021.61,523.61,298.72011-12296.3926.41,484.81,316.32012-13353.11,002.01,476.51,204.32013-14356.61,016.71,426.61,241.82014-15458.01,062.11,551.31,266.5The equivalent data for each NHS organisation is attached.The Department collects data on backlog maintenance annually from the NHS trusts through its Estates Returns Information Collection. The data collected has not been amended centrally and its accuracy always remains the responsibility of the contributing NHS organisations.



Backlog Maintenance data
(Excel SpreadSheet, 109.39 KB)

Social Services: Living Wage

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 25215, if he will estimate the difference between the additional cost to social care providers of paying the new national living wage and the amount available to local authorities through the social care precept and the Better Care Fund in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

Alistair Burt: It is the decision of local councils whether to raise the adult social care precept in order to pay for adult social care in their local area. The precept gives local areas who are best placed to respond to local needs and pressures the flexibility to be able to do so.The additional amount available to local authorities for adult social care through the social care precept and the Better Care Fund are as follows:2016/172017/182018/19Additional Better Care Fund0105825Adult Social Care precept3938211,290

Women and Equalities

Gender Recognition: Discrimination

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to tackle prejudice and discrimination towards the transsexual community.

Caroline Dinenage: For the fifth year in a row, the UK has been recognised as the leading country in Europe for LGB&T equality.I am proud of our achievements but we are not complacent; there is more work to be done. Achieving transgender equality is a priority for this Government. We will continue to tackle this prejudice, taking action such as issuing guidance for employers and service providers on how best to support transgender people. We will soon be able to evaluate the impact of the £2 million fund provided to tackle transphobic, homophobic and biphobic bullying in schools and we have sought to strengthen the voices of trans people through funding of the LGB&T Partnership to support the Transgender Organisations Network. The review will engage with relevant stakeholders, including from the transgender community, combined with professional and operational expertise.The GEO is continuously exploring relevant policies with other Departments and officials are currently doing so in the context of the recommendations made by the Women and Equalities select committee.For the fifth year in a row, the UK has been recognised as the leading country in Europe for LGB&T equality.I am proud of our achievements but we are not complacent; there is more work to be done. Achieving transgender equality is a priority for this Government. We will continue to tackle this prejudice, taking action such as issuing guidance for employers and service providers on how best to support transgender people. We will soon be able to evaluate the impact of the £2 million fund provided to tackle transphobic, homophobic and biphobic bullying in schools and we have sought to strengthen the voices of trans people through funding of the LGB&T Partnership to support the Transgender Organisations Network. The review will engage with relevant stakeholders, including from the transgender community, combined with professional and operational expertise.The GEO is continuously exploring relevant policies with other Departments and officials are currently doing so in the context of the recommendations made by the Women and Equalities select committee.